My Kind of Town

Mommy and I took a vacation sans dad this week to Elk Grove, a suburb of Chicago, to see Mommy's friends from college.  Before we go on trips, I like to hide pictures and notes all over the house for Daddy to find while we are away. Mommy and I have too much fun taking the pictures. Here are some of our favorite outtakes.

Auntie Kate was kind enough to drive us all the way to Chicago and back so that Mommy could focus on me.  Great Aunt Trish even loaned us her fancy car since Mommy's car wasn't doing so hot so I had lots of room to toss my toys around.  Here I am in Iowa for the very first time.  The look of joy on my face may be more about my clean diaper and less about being in Iowa. It was still an ok place though.

When we got to Chicago, we met up with Auntie Elise, who was home for the summer from Bulgaria, and Auntie Erin, who travelled from DC to meet me.  We dined on Mexican food between my plate throwing and toy chucking and screaming.  Not my finest moment but a baby has to destress after being in the car all day, and, since the waiter wasn't offering me margaritas, I took matters in my own hands.  Here I am with Mommy, Auntie Erin and blue shirt guy who I harassed during dinner with my endless tapping and screeching.

I had lots of firsts. I ate a bite of my first Portillo's sandwich then promptly threw it on the ground. Not a big fan of Italian beef but I was a big fan of their world famous chocolate cake.

I sat on a bear's lap.

Mommy coaxed me down my first slide. 

 I even rode my first carousel. Mommy was too chicken to put me on a carousel horse...

but Auntie Elise wasn't.  Auntie Elise is baking me a little girlfriend so she was getting her baby practice in before her arrival in late September.


I had lots of fun with these three ladies and Mommy but after 4 days of no naps, 10 pm bedtimes and getting up every night for snuggle time, Mommy and I were ready to get home to Daddy, Leland and our own beds.  We are still recovering...

One of These Things Is Not Like the Others....

 Mommy and I "helped" Mimi and Pa get ready for the family coming in from out of town.  I harassed the dogs while Mommy "helped" Pa put the toys together.  Turns out Mommy can't follow directions very well.  Thankfully Pa is no stranger to putting Little Tikes stuff together, even though he bemoans it, so the fancy wagon came to life.  I can't get enough of it.

Auntie Kelly, Uncle Andy and Grayson, Cooper and Claire came in town for Great Grandma Corky's 90th Birthday. I don't get out with kids very much so let's just say I was a bit excited to have friends my age to play with.  We ate, we laughed, we played.  Daddy even ran us around in the wagon. 

 When we went on a walk, we looked like an elephant train going down the sidewalk.  It was like being quadruplets! I got to sit next to Claire-Bear and kept trying to hold her hand.  She was not having it.

Mimi's and Pa's house at mealtime became a bit of a mess but we had fun.  The triplets like to sing during mealtimes. It surprised me at first...then I used it as a distraction to swipe some of Cooper's food when he wasn't looking. Lucky for me, he is good at sharing and when he caught me stealing, he offered it to me.  What a good friend!


Great Grandma Corky's birthday dinner at Loch Lloyd may not have gone according to plan...Claire Bear got sick and Great Grandma Corky got too tired from the festivities and had to leave early but it didn't phase us boys. We ate yummy food, played and read stories.  Here I am with the birthday girl.

On Sunday, Mommy and I took Auntie Kelly's and Uncle Andy's van for a joy ride to get it filled up and packed before they left.  To Daddy's dismay, Mommy has a not-so-secret love affair with mini-vans.  I was a bit too exhausted from the weekend to consciously enjoy my mini-van experience but she is hoping this picture of his oh-so-cute little boy asleep in a van will soften Daddy's heart! ;0)

It's My Party and I'll Cry If I Want To...

Between my teething and Mommy mourning my infancy as I head off to the toddler years, there have been lots of tears shed at the Groesbeck household as of late. 

In the weeks leading up to my birthday, I felt the change of an older and wiser Griffin coming on.  I spent more time being studious, taking random books from shelves and "reading" them to the dog. This one was my favorite, I feel it really enlightened us both.

I also grew a bit melancholy.  Mostly I felt this way because Mommy gave me a taste of the practice birthday cake and then pretended there was no more left.  "All done"?! I'm not blind, woman, I knew there were some in the oven and on top of the stove. But, alas, she was immune to my tantrums and made me wait til my birthday to eat it again.

My birthday itself was an excellent day.  I started the day with some quiet time reading my favorite book to my good friend Croc.

If you're into the facts, here is a run down of my first year stats: I am 31 1/4 inches tall (95th percentile), 21 pounds 9 ounces (55th percentile) and my noggin is in the 75th percentile.  For all you non-mathematicians, that means that I grew 12 3/4 inches and I gained 16 pounds in my first year. You can find all of this on my first birthday poster that Mommy's friend Becca Hood made me in honor of my birthday...please excuse the height difference on the poster--Mommy forgot how to use a tape measure.

I got lots of Daddy time because my birthday was on a Saturday. It. Was. Awesome.

I had cake and loved it, of course...it was the highlight of my lunch. I am just like my Mommy in that I always have some room for dessert. Every single bite of it.

I got some new toys--books, Little People, a guitar, a tractor, a farm, clothes, blocks, a tunnel. Leland and I have had an especially great time with the play tunnel from Auntie Darcy, Uncle Scott and Evan. Lele has only gotten stuck in it once, which is quite remarkable.

 Here I am crying because someone (ahem, Daddy) took my ice cream away after just a few bites. Moderation schmoderation. Blue Bell puts the ice cream in pre-measured cups for a reason, Daddy. One cup is a single serving.  The WHOLE cup.

 After the ice cream standoff of 2013 and a birthday bath, Mommy took my new tractor for a spin. She was kind enough to let me hitch a ride in the trailer.

Since turning one, I have some new shenanigans.  My favorite pastimes are harassing the dog, emptying the trash cans and playing hide and go seek with Mommy and Daddy's things--particularly expensive remotes, brushes and toilet paper.  Lucky/unlucky for them, my hiding places are fairly predictable--the laundry basket, the trashcan and Leland's mouth.